pennyspoetryfandomcom-20200214-history
Paula Meehan
Paula Meehan (born 1955) is an Irish poet and playwright. Life Meehan was born in Dublin in 1955, the eldest of 6 children. She started school at St. Elizabeth's in Kingston upon Thames, England, where her parents had travelled to find work. She subsequently attended a number of primary schools around Dublin. She finished her primary education at the Central Model Girls' School in Gardiner Street. She began her secondary education at St. Michael's Holy Faith Covent in Finglas, Dublin, but was expelled for organising a protest march against the regime of the school. She studied for her Intermediate Certificate on her own and then went to Whitehall House Senior School, a vocational school, to study for her Leaving Certificate. Outside school she was a member of a dance drama group, became involved in band culture and, around 1970, began to write lyrics. Gradually composing song lyrics would give way to writing poetry. She studied English, History and Classical Civilization at Trinity College, Dublin, taking 5 years (1972-1977) to complete her Bachelor of Arts degree. This included a year off, spent travelling through Europe. While a student she was involved in street theatre and various kinds of performance. After college she travelled again, spending long stretches in Greece, Germany, Scotland and England. She was offered a teaching fellowship at Eastern Washington University where she studied (1981-1983) with James J. McAuley in a two year programme which led to a Master of Fine Arts degree in Poetry. Gary Snyder & Carolyn Kizer were among the distinguished visiting writers to have a profound influence on her work and on her thought. She returned to Dublin in the mid-eighties. Writing Her poem "Seed" was used in the 2010 Leaving Certificate examination as the unseen poem, although (critically) the department misprinted 'useful' as 'useless' which somewhat diminished the meaning of the poem.Leaving Certificate Exam Papers 2010 Recognition Awards * Arts Council Bursaries in Literature (1987, 1990) * The Martin Toonder Award for Literature (1995) * Elected Member of Aosdána (1996) * The Butler Literary Award for Poetry presented by the Irish American Cultural Institute (1998) * Denis Devlin Memorial Award for Dharmakaya (2001) * PPI Award for Radio Drama, Best Play (2005) Publications Poetry * Return and no Blame. Dublin: Beaver Row Press, 1984. * Reading the Sky. Dublin: Beaver Row Press, 1985. * The Man who was Marked by Winter (with foreword by Eavan Boland). Oldcastle, Co. Meath: Gallery, 1991; Cheney, WA: Eastern Washington University Press, 1994. * Pillow Talk. Oldcastle, Co. Meath: Gallery Press, 1994. * Mysteries of the Home (The Man Who was Marked by Winter & Pillow Talk). Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Bloodaxe, 1996. * Dharmakaya. Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 2000; Winston-Salem, NC: Wake Forest University Press, 2001. * Three Irish Poets: an anthology (by Eavan Boland, Mary O'Malley, & Paula Meehan; edited by Eavan Boland). Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 2003. * Six Sycamores (illustrated by Marie Foley). Belfast: Crowquill, 2004. *''Days Like These: Three Irish poets'' (by Tony Curtis, Theo Dorgan, & Paula Meehan; edited by Sam Green & Sally Green). Waldron Island, WA: Brooding Heron Press, 2007. *''Sea'' (by Paula Meehan, Thomas Dillon Redshaw, & Paulette Myers-Rich). Saint Paul, MN: Traffic Street Press / University of St. Thomas Center for Irish Studies, 2007. * Painting Rain. Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 2009. Winston-Salem, NC: Wake Forest University Press, 2009. Plays * Cell: a play in two parts for four actors and a voice. Dublin: New Island Books, 2000. * Music for Dogs: Work for radio ("Janey Mack is Going to Die," "The Lover," "Three Hander"). Dublin: Dedalus Press, 2008. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Paula Meehan, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 12, 2014. Plays produced Stage *''Kirkle'' (directed by Susie Kennedy). TEAM Educational Theatre Company. The Ark: A Cultural Centre for Children, Dublin; Dalkey School Project, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, as part of a tour to schools. 3 Feb. 1995. *''The Voyage: For four actors and a musician'' (directed by Susie Kennedy). TEAM Educational Theatre Company. The Ark: A Cultural Centre for Children, Dublin. 22 Mar. 1997. *''Mrs Sweeney'' (directed by Kathy McArdle). Rough Magic Theatre Company. Project Arts Centre (project@themint), Dublin. 7 May 1997; The Magic Theatre, San Francisco. 1999. *''Cell: A play in two parts for four actors and a voice'' (directed by Garrett Keogh). Calypso Productions. City Arts Centre, Dublin. 6 Sep. 1999; Celle translation. Kosmos Theatre, Breganz, Austria. 2004. *''The Wolf of Winter'' (directed by Andrea Ainsworth). National Theatre Company. Abbey Theatre (Peacock Theatre), Dublin. 10 Dec. 2003, repeated Jan.2004. Radio *''Mrs Sweeney'. Play of the Week. RTÉ. Radio 1. 8 Jun. 1990. *''Janey Mack Is Going to Die (dramatic monologue performed by Ruth McCabe). All Talk. RTÉ. Radio 1, Dublin. 19 Nov. 2001. *''Wuthering Heights'' (adaptation of novel for the national Leaving Certificate exam). Sunday Playhouse. RTÉ. Radio 1. 11 May 2003, 18 May 2003, 7 Mar. 2004. *''The Lover'' (dramatic Monologue performed by Lisa Lamb). RTÉ. Radio 1. The Tuesday Play: The Seven Ages of Man. RTÉ Radio 1, Dublin. 18 Jan. 2005; 9 Aug. 2005. *''Threehander'' (drama performed by Garrett Keogh, Ruth McCabe, & Laura Murphy). RTÉ. Radio 1. Sunday Playhouse. RTÉ Radio 1, Dublin. 23 Oct.2005. Dir. Garrett Keogh. Calypso Productions. City Arts Centre, Dublin. 6 Sep. 1999; Celle translation. Kosmos Theatre, Breganz, Austria. 2004. Except where noted, drama information courtesy Jody Allen Randolph.Jody Allen Randolph, "Meehan: A selected bibliography", An Sionnach: A Journal of literature, culture, and the arts, 5:1&2 (Spring & Fall 2009). Project Muse, Web, Dec. 12, 2014. See also * List of Irish poets * List of English-language playwrights References External links ;Poems * "A Child's Map of Dublin" * "The Pattern" *Paula Meehan at Poetry International - profile and 5 poems. ;Books * Paula Meehan: A Selected Bibliography by Jody Allen Randolph (2009) ;Audio / video *2009 video of Paula Meehan reading her poems * Paula Meehan at YouTube ;About * Paula Meehan at Carcanet Press *Paula Meehan at Dedalus Press * Paula Meehan at Wake Forest University Press * Paula Meehan at Ricorso.net *[http://thefabmarquee.blogspot.com/2009/09/review-cell-1st-irish-festival.html Review of Cell] * [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/an_sionnach/toc/current.html Allen Randolph, Jody, ed. An Sionnach: Special Issue: Paula Meehan. Double Issue. An Sionnach 5.1 and 5.2 (Bealtaine/Spring and Samhain/Fall 2009).] * Allen Randolph, Jody. "Text and Context: Paula Meehan." * Auge, Andrew. "The Apparitions of “Our Lady of the Facts of Life”: Paula Meehan and the Visionary Quotidian." * Boland, Eavan. "Unfinished Business: The Communal Art of Paula Meehan." * Collins, Lucy. "A Way of Going Back: Memory and Estrangement in the Poetry of Paula Meehan." * Falci, Eric. "Meehan’s Stanzas and the Irish Lyric After Yeats." * Fogarty, Anne. "'Hear Me and Have Pity': Rewriting Elegy in the Poetry of Paula Meehan." * González Arias, Luz Mar. "'In Dublin’s Fair City'—Citified Embodiments in Paula Meehan." * Holdridge, Jefferson. "The Wolf Tree: Culture and Nature in Dharmakaya and Painting Rain." * Denn Jackson, Eileen. "The Lyricism of Abjection in Paula Meehan’s Drama of Imprisonment." * Kirkpatrick, Kathryn. "'A Murmuration of Starlings in a Rowan Tree': Finding Gary Snyder in Paula Meehan’s Eco-Political Poetics." * McCarthy, Thomas. "'None of us well fixed' – Empathy and its Aesthetic Power in Paula Meehan’s Poetry." * McMullen, Kim. "'Snatch a song from a stranger’s mouth': The Stage Plays and Radio Dramas of Paula Meehan." * Mulhall, Anne. "Memory, Poetry and Recovery: Paula Meehan’s Transformational Aesthetics." * O’Malley, Mary. "City Centre." * Poloczek, Katarzyna. "'Sharing Our Differences': Individuality and Community in the Early Work of Paula Meehan." * Schrage-Früh, Michaela. "Transforming that Past”: The Healing Power of Dreams in Paula Meehan’s Poetry." * [http://thefabmarquee.blogspot.com/2009/09/review-cell-1st-irish-festival.html Tortora-Lee, Karen. Review of The Cell. Dir. John Keating. The Fab Marquee. 18 Sep. 2009.] * Villar-Argáiz, Pilar. "'Act Locally, Think Globally': Paula Meehan’s Local Commitment and Global Consciousness." ;Interviews * "The Body Politic: Paula Meehan in Conversation with Jody Allen Randolph" (2009) * [http://www.vimeo.com/7539391. Paula Meehan: Working with Metal. Documentary Film (15 min). Crowley, Elaine, Dir. Institute of Art, Design and Technology (2009).] * “‘Playing with the Ghosts of Words’: An Interview with Paula Meehan.” Luz Mar González Arias.(1999) Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:Irish poets Category:Irish women poets Category:English-language poets Category:Aosdána members Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Dublin Category:Eastern Washington University alumni Category:People from County Dublin Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:21st-century poets Category:21st-century women writers Category:Poets Category:Women poets